Posted on 10/28/2014 2:56:42 PM PDT by Libloather
NEW YORK — Soaring inflation. A collapsing dollar. Bubbles in financial markets that would soon pop. One presidential candidate even suggested that the Federal Reserve chairman should be roughed up.
Over the past five years, as the Fed has pumped ever-more money into the financial system, critics have warned that it would lead to all kinds of disasters. Yet the central bank kept extending its bond-buying program, known by the wonky name of quantitative easing, or QE. It was an unprecedented effort aimed at lowering borrowing costs, encouraging spending and reviving a dormant economy before it could slip back into recession.
Now, $4 trillion later, QE is drawing to a close, so the question is: Did it work?
Economists have plenty of quibbles, but many agree that the Fed accomplished the bulk of its goals.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Then why stop now? Print another $4 trillion, take 50 million more Americans out of the work force and bring that number way down to 2.7 percent. SUCCESS!
FUBO! Epic fail.
The Fed’s free money helicopter drop onto Wall Street and Government has caused
- massive growth in wealth inequality and a $Trillions massive gift to Wall Street
- massive growth in government spending and debt and massive growth of the nanny state (Obamacare, anyone?)
- the blowing of another bubble
- zero nominal interest rates, and negative real rates stealing money from savers and retirees.
- destruction of the US labor force (45 year low in labor participation) and theft of workers wages.
How can the Fed stop QE and yet assure us they will keep interest rates low at least until next Spring? I’m not an investment banker but someone’s got to be buying those Treasuries and Agency bonds to force interest rates to remain low it seems to me.
” The Fed’s free money helicopter drop onto Wall Street and Government has caused
- massive growth in wealth inequality and a $Trillions massive gift to Wall Street
- massive growth in government spending and debt and massive growth of the nanny state (Obamacare, anyone?)
- the blowing of another bubble”
Closing in on 18 trillion in debt.
” The unemployment rate has fallen to 5.9 percent, “
Like HELL it has!!
Excellent but you missed the inflation lies. Yeah, thumb drives are deflationary but food and energy inflation is killing Ma and Pa Kettle along with the zero interest rate return on a lifet time of hard earned savings.
No it's not. It's permanent, at least until the whole system collapses. There is no politically viable alternative. Increasing tax rates will bring in less money, not more. They could try cutting tax rates to stimulate growth, but that may not work with the level of debt. The Fed has basically been loaning free money to the banks who aren't lending it, and corporations are sitting on trillions and not investing. Anyway, the Democrats would block it. Cutting spending sufficiently to balance the budget would require cuts to Social Security and Medicare, which is politically unfeasible. QE monetizes the debt while shifting the responsibility to from Congress to the Fed, and best of all, the Congress critters don't have to do anything to make it happen. It's the perfect solution from the political class' POV.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/did-the-federal-reserve-launder-141-billion-dollars-through-belgium-to-hide-massive-increase-in-quantitative-easing/5382962
Whoops I should have read your post before I posted.
Fallen to 5.9%? Year sure. Consider:
1. The number of low wage and part time jobs.
2. The number of people NOT WORKING because of programs like Disability, Food Stamps, and Obamacare.
3. The number of people who have given up looking for a job
4. The number of people who have retired from the workforce rather than putting up with the low quality jobs this economy churns out
5. The number of stoners living in the parent’s basement
Contrary to the reflexive reaction of many here, the Fed’s QE program worked in the sense of preventing a financial collapse and major economic dislocations here or abroad. That is a major accomplishment, but staunching the bleeding in a trauma patient does not address his ongoing cancer. Major tax and spending and economic reforms are needed if we are to prosper again as we should. Such measures though are beyond the Fed’s authority.
Its made the rich richer and poor poorer.
I suspect the real, true unemployment rate is somewhere between 15 and 20%.
In my volunteer work as a triage interviewer at a local food bank, it is rare to interview a person who has a job. For those that do, it is usually part time.
Pure propaganda.
And wouldn’t we all like to know what the FED just did to soar the market again in a matter of a week. Things that were once unimaginable. And we are and will pay a steep price in the long run.
It floated the stock and bond markets but added trillions in national debt, requires increased interest rates at a later time to payback, will crash the economy and has kept the economy depressed, and did nothing for the average person but place them and their country into further debt.
During the Great Depression the stock market twice hit significant highs...all while people were out of work.
We have more people out of work now than during the Great Depression.
We have “soup lines” in the form of Food Stamps that are far in excess of the Great Depression.
” The unemployment rate has fallen to 5.9 percent, “”
And the day after election day it’ll be 8.9%
In other words, it hasn't been this low since Bush was President.
My crazy liberal brother said it wasnt enough. sigh . .
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.